Submission
by LadySlytherin007
Summary: What will happen when Scarlett talks Ashley out of marrying Melly? Begins at the Wilkes' bbq.
1. Chapter 1

Scarlett crept out of the room full of sleeping ladies as silently as possible. She just had to speak with Ashley. _He loves me, so he can't really be marrying Melanie. _As she descended the stairs, she heard a ruckus coming from the men's congregation room. She froze and watched as a man with dark skin and hair the color of midnight rushed out of the room. _What is his name again? Ah yes, Rhett Butler. _But her attention was soon diverted to a second man. _ Ashley. _Ashley Wilkes followed Mr. Butler's exit from the room. When she saw him, she immediately forgot all about anything except talking to Ashley.

"Ashley!" she whispered as she quickly followed him. "Ashley, wait!"

Ashley paused his brisk walk down the hall and approached Scarlett. "Scarlett dear, why aren't you resting with the other ladies?" he said with traces of affection in his words.

"Why, I wasn't tired. And besides, I need to talk to you." She said as she suggestively batted her eyelashes and led him to the door to the library. She took his hand and led him in, and then she bolted the door behind them.

She turned to face Ashley, who was watching her with a bewildered smile on his face. "Now what is it you needed to talk to me about?" he asked as he took her hand in his own.

Scarlett of course took this as a sign and stepped closer to him. "Oh Ashley, I love you, really I do. Tell me you love me too, tell me!" She pleaded frantically. This was very unlike Scarlett O'Hara, begging for a man's heart.

"Scarlett…I…." Ashley faltered and turned away from her. He walked to the window and stared out at the home he had loved his entire life: Twelve Oaks. He did love Scarlett, he always had. From the time they were children running freely over that very land, to their early teens when Scarlett still rebelled against being a lady, to that very moment where Scarlett, the belle of the county stood merely paces behind him, professing her own love for him. _Me? She can't love me. Out of all of the strong, courageous men that she has on a string, what could she possibly want with me? _He wondered as he struggled to find his voice again.

But Scarlett was soon standing right beside him, searching his face desperately. "Ashley, I know you love me….. why can't you just…"

Ashley looked into her eyes that were wet with the newly formed tears. _Tears because of me._ He thought. He took her hands once again and concentrated on them. He didn't want her to see the wild emotions in his eyes, so diverting his attention anywhere but directly to hers seemed like a good plan. But this only worsened the situation because he couldn't help but notice how perfectly their hands fit together. "Scarlett, I'm marrying Melanie. It is to be announced this evening." He said meekly.

Scarlett couldn't stand it anymore. "You know you don't love her, you love me! We've always loved each other, why are you doing this?" she raised her voice shrilly.

"Why can't you understand? Melanie is perfect for me. She is like me in every way. You could never be happy with me, I would bore you and you would soon grow tired of my lifestyle. And….and…."

"And what Ashley?" Scarlett whispered. She slipped her arms around his waist.

_And I don't love you. _His mind finished the sentence. But he knew that it was a lie. What would happen if he admitted he loved Scarlett, what then? He was about to turn away again, but her tiny hand caught his face and forced him to look her squarely in the eyes again. Those eyes, deep emerald pools of tears that bore into his very soul caught him off guard. They made him want to be strong; they made him want to be courageous for once in his life.

He took a deep breath. "And I love you more then life itself, Scarlett." And with that he pulled her close for a passionate kiss. A kiss in which they both let their pent up feelings for each other fly. When they pulled apart, Scarlett grinned widely and Ashley did too, momentarily. Then his logical mind went back to Melanie.

"My dear, what are we going to do now?" he asked.

Scarlett looked at him blankly as if the answer were the most obvious one in the world. "Why, you're going to talk to Melanie and explain to her that the marriage cannot go on. Then you and I will be married and have many, many children who will grow to love Twelve Oaks and Tara as much as we do. I'm sure our fathers would agree to give us each shares of land that adjoin each other, so we could set up our own home plantation! It's just perfect, and we'll live happily ever after!" she beamed. Then she stood up on her toes and quickly kissed Ashley again, this time lightly and tenderly.

Ashley sighed. "Of course. I'll go speak with Melanie right now."

"Oh now don't be silly. She's asleep right now, and we have at least thirty more minutes alone before we need to make our appearances again. Now if you still want to leave and go sit with all of those huffy men then go right ahead….." she let the sentence dangle with a faint pout on her lips, causing Ashley to cave in.

"Alright, alright. We'll stay in here, love." He walked towards the couch and started to sit down.

"Woah now, don't smother me here." Rhett laughed as he sat up. "Not that I usually oppose if a woman tries to sit in my lap, but under the given circumstances…." Ashley's face possessed only shock, while Scarlett's was full first of shock, then of anguish.

"How dare you sit here and listen to such a private conversation sir!" she cried furiously.

"Well if you want to be technical, I was laying here, not sitting." He smirked.

"OH.. you!…" Nobody ever back-talked Scarlett O'Hara. "Ashley, say something to this man!"

Ashley paused momentarily, but it seemed so important to Scarlett for him to speak, so he did. "Captain Butler, I know that I have your word to keep whatever you heard in here private."

"You have my very word as a gentleman." He said whole-heartedly.

"May we then have your word as a scoundrel as well? I know it would make me feel better." Scarlett retorted.

"Scarlett, that wasn't neces…"

"Oh it's quite alright Mr. Wilkes." Rhett interrupted. He was staring at Scarlett bemusedly. "Miss O'Hara, if your trust in me to keep quiet will lay more comfortably in my offering my word as a scoundrel, then by all means you have it." He stood and extended a hand in her direction. She ignored it and continued to glower at him.

Ashley took his hand, however. He was, after all, the host; there was no need to make any enemies or create any unnecessary tension between acquaintances, however mild. "We thank you sir. Now if you will excuse us, we will be on our way. I do hope we will see you tonight?"

"Of course you will Mr. Wilkes. Until then, have a good evening. I do hope your confrontation with your cousin will be as pleasant as possible in the given situation." He then turned to Scarlett. "As for you Miss O'Hara, I hope your confrontation will all of your beaux will be…. interesting ones. Hopefully there won't be too many broken hearts at your hands this evening." He said in a serious voice, but his dark eyes were dancing with silent laughter.

She merely raised an eyebrow in his direction. Ashley guided her out of the room and out the front doors of Twelve Oaks to enjoy the last few minutes they had together before the plans had to be set into action.

Rhett stood glued to his spot in the library thinking about the past 20 minutes. He shook his head with a slight smile on his face. _They'll never last. Such a conniving woman, full of spirit and wit. He will never really satisfy her. And when it ends, I will be there to sweep her off of her feet._


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to do this on chapter 1. But I do not and will not ever claim to own any of the fabulous characters or plot of GWTW, I just play with them to satisfy my imagination.

Ashley and Scarlett returned to the house after their short walk. They stopped just inside the main entranceway. Ashley broke his hold on her and spoke. "I think now that the ladies are beginning to awaken, I will go find Melanie and talk to her. But do me a favor dear; do not mention our little arrangement to anyone yet, alright? I just couldn't bear to hurt her any more then I already am going to."

"Oh fiddle de de." Scarlett moaned in exasperation. "She'll be fine. Such a sweet little thing will surely get over this easily. But ok Ashley, I'll keep quiet. Meet me back in the library afterwards." She flashed him a dazzling smile and he couldn't help but agree.

With that, Ashley left in search of his soon-to-be ex-fiancé. Scarlett was floating on a cloud. With a slight grin on her face, she whirled and she twirled there in the entrance hall, imagining how wonderful life would be with her beloved. She stopped when she heard a man clear his throat.

"Ahem.." Rhett began, "My dear Miss O'Hara, how lovely to see you again in such a short span of time."

"You!" she cried out. "Why is it that you seem to ruin the happiest moments of my day today? Oh nevermind, you cannot ruin this one." And with that she approached a mirror hanging on the wall and began to adjust her dress and hair, smiling at her reflection.

Rhett approached her quickly and soon was standing behind her, staring into her reflection's eyes. "You may not know it yet, but I will be the one you will be fantasizing about in the future, mark my words." His words held no sarcasm, but they were dripping with playfulness.

Scarlett closed her eyes momentarily to gather her thoughts. _How can I make this wretched man go away? _She turned to face him with nothing but innocence on her face. "Why Captain Butler, how do you know I don't already?"

But Rhett had been expecting something like this. "Because my dear, if you were, you would have been throwing yourself at me in the library instead of the honorable Mr. Wilkes, who is at this very moment breaking the unfortunate news to Miss Hamilton." He knew he had quieted her when her face lit back up at the thought of Ashley breaking things off with Melanie.

_This may be tougher than I thought. _Rhett thought to himself. Just then, Melanie Hamilton walked out of a nearby room slowly, and then went to sit on a window seat on the far side of the main hall. "If you'll excuse me Miss O'Hara, I feel it is my duty as a gentleman, or a scoundrel perhaps, to go feign ignorance and comfort Miss Hamilton. Good day to you." And with a curt nod, he strode across the room.

"Good day to you too." Scarlett mumbled as she watched the scene. On the one hand, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Melly, she really was a sweet lady. But on the other hand…. Ashley was really and truly hers! At this, she clamped her hands together and went back to the library. She lay on the couch and awaited Ashley's return; he should be there any second.

XXXXXXXXXX

Melanie Hamilton had never been more heartbroken in her life. She had never been the most popular girl with the gentlemen, so having the affection of one as remarkable as Ashley had made her feel heavenly. And now… now he was breaking things off with her? Had they not been talking jut the previous night about their announcement to be made at the dance tonight? And had he not seemed just as enthusiastic about it as she had? Now with all of this war talk, he had decided to back out on her; but promised to return to her after the war. He 'didn't want to leave a wife at home knowing that he may never return.' Melanie was a very understanding woman though, so she couldn't fault her love for this outlook. But she also couldn't pretend she didn't feel this torment ravishing her heart. She covered her face with her hands and leaned on the window.

"Miss…Hamilton I believe?" She sat up startledly.

"Why… Mr. Butler, how nice to see you." She said as she quickly wiped the tears from her face and offered him a faint smile.

_What a strong woman. _Rhett thought. He approached her and knelt on the ground at her feet. "Whatever is the matter? What could have distraught you so as to have you crying into the windowpane?"

"Oh… it's Ashley!" she said heavily. She didn't know why she was telling him this, she barely knew this Butler man. But she desperately needed someone to talk to about it…. "He just broke things off with me, and we were supposed to announce our engagement tonight!" and she then went on to relate the details of the break-up.

Rhett pretended to be shocked. "There, there, dear." He said as he patted her arm and pulled her into a surprisingly un-awkward brotherly embrace. "It's alright. Maybe he was just looking out for your best interest." He said the last bit half-heartedly. Secretly, he was wondering just why Ashley had buttered the break up this way. _Wait till Scarlett finds out…._ But he shook that thought out of his mind. He had to concentrate on cheering Melly up.

XXXXXXXXXX

The door to the library opened hesitantly. Scarlett immediately sat up. "Ashley there you are, I've been wondering what was taking so long!" She got up and kissed him quickly.

Ashley however didn't respond; he just sat down in a nearby chair. "Scarlett we need to talk." He continued when he saw he had her attention. "I…. I told Melly that we were just postponing our marriage; that I would come back to her after the war."

Scarlett fiery Irish temper exploded. "Why the sam hill would you tell her that?"

"Because, I just couldn't stand to break her heart by telling her that I didn't love her... that I love you."

"Well, you're going to march right back in there and straighten things out. Do you realize that as long as she thinks that she's waiting on you, we can't be together?"

"Yes Scarlett I realize that we cannot be together… in public." He said this slowly as if judging what her response would be.

"Oh I get it. We can be together secretly, like this." And with that she sat in his lap in the chair and placed her hands on his chest.

"Exactly."

Scarlett couldn't believe what she was hearing! Not only had Ashley not been honest with Melly, but he was suggesting that he wasn't even going to properly court her! So, she did what felt natural in the moment. She slapped him with all of the fervor she could muster. Then she jumped up from his lap. She was about to yell at him some more, when she heard a familiar voice outside the room.

"Why Miss Melly, I heard rumor you were engaged, but I never would have thought it was to him!" Frank Kennedy said in wonder.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Why Miss Melly, I heard rumor you were engaged, but I never would have thought it was to him!" _

Rhett looked up from where he was still kneeling at Melanie's feet, holding her hand to his lips. It took a couple of seconds for what Frank was implying to dawn on them. But just as Melanie did realize it, she saw the door to the library open and a very disgruntled Scarlett stormed out, followed by a heartbroken looking Ashley. Melanie suddenly became very jealous, something that wasn't in her nature. And in feeling this way, she did something completely rash and unthinkable, making sure that Ashley could hear her.

"Why yes, Mr. Kennedy, we are. Though I am more then surprised that you figured it out." She laughed in a way that she hoped would come across as carefree.

In the meantime, Rhett was staring at Melanie in complete shock. _Did she just say what I think she just said? _"Miss Melanie, I must insist we go somewhere to talk… privately." And with that, he stood and firmly pulled her to her feet as well.

"Oh Rhett, how you do carry on. Well if we must darling, come right this way." And with that she led him out of the room.

Scarlett had watched the whole scene with interest, and didn't miss the look on Rhett's face. She knew what kind of game Melly was playing at; she'd done things like that her entire life. Ashley, however, looked more confused than he had the entire day. This was going to be an interesting night to say the least.

A/N: Ok so hopefully this story will interest some of you. The plot has been running around in my mind for a while now, and I just finally decided it must be written. Well, please R&R, I cannot read your minds! Ch3 coming soon.


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